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Matrices – AMC 30 @ The Block, Orange, CA

Matrix Reloaded blew me away. I saw it on May 15th, the quote-unquote opening day, although the real fun was at those piss-ant, jerk-water “special engagements” which I just don’t buy into . . . unless it’s Star Wars. But anyways . . . I saw it at 12:15 PM at AMC 30 at the City Block of Orange. On a side note, while there I saw a poster advertising THE PUNISHER by Marvel and Artisan coming in 2004. Anyways, to see it at 12:15 PM on a Thursday has to mean that school was either canceled or I had a “doctor’s appointment”. Which do you think it was?

So I walk into one of the big four theatres at the Block and back against the wall in horror. I am 45 minutes early for the show and the theatre is . . . empty! I grab a seat and start playing Golden Sun: The Lost Age (see Part Deaux). 45 minutes later, the screen switches from satellite entertainment to local entertainment . . . then switches back. A few minutes later the screen widens and the movie begins. No horribly impressive new trailers, ‘cept for Last Samurai with Tom Cruise…that looks pretty nifty.

Then the movie begins. The music and the matrix envelop me for the next 130 minutes (approximately). The only time I really notice the real world are during the Zion gratuitous sex scene and the intro were you spend about a minute and a half surfing around the data matrix with no real purpose. Slow opening, but the movie still blew me away because I was just there for the fight sequences. Because I was just there for the fight sequences, the philosophical moments really thrilled me especially when me meet the Architect . . . but I’m not going to get into details because I don’t really know them. After the movie, I went back to school, after which I went shopping.

I bought the soundtrack and the new videogame “Enter the Matrix” which weaves in and out of The Matrix Reloaded with the secondary character Niobe (played by Ms. Jada Pinkett Smith) and her crew, of the Logos. It took 4 (four) CD’s to install Enter the Matrix, and it was worth each time-consuming moment. The game starts out with real footage, not CGI, but real footage of the crew getting plugged in and going on there first mission, getting the last transmission of the Osiris, which was destroyed in the short “Final Flight of the Osiris” which aired before every viewing of Dreamcatcher (the only good thing to come out of that movie in my not so humble opinion*). This information is then used to plan battle strategies with the other captains during The Matrix Reloaded. See, the game was written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski and started production in 2001…over two years ago. And they did some phenomenal work.

Then there’s the other tie-in’s at www.theanimatrix.com which will be released, along with “Final Flight of the Osiris” and four other animated shorts, on DVD on June 9th. These shorts might explain what happened to Tank or how Neo saved that one Zion inhabitant or just increase the mystery surrounding the “surrogate parents” of the Matrix. Regardless, I am blown away by the workings of the Wachowski brothers. See, when they first made The Matrix, they weren’t making a one shot. They were setting up a trilogy. Regardless of the fact that The Matrix stood alone well, the brothers knew the trilogy would never see the light of film if The Matrix didn’t make money. But it did and the studio came begging for more. And Larry and Andy blew them away. They pounded out two scripts, then took 4 years building two fantastic films that hinged on each other, along with dozens of extras. Oh yeah, and if you see Matrix Reloaded, don’t forget to wait through the credits to see a preview of Matrix Revolutions. You can go to the bathroom first, because there are at least 10 minutes of credits before.